In general, a refrigerator is an appliance with storage space for storing food at a reduced temperature, consisting of a refrigerator compartment maintaining a temperature a few degrees above the freezing point of water and a freezer compartment maintaining a temperature below the freezing point of water. Recent higher demand for ice contributes to increasing demand for a refrigerator equipped with an ice maker that can automatically make ice.
The ice maker may be installed in the freezer compartment depending on the type of a refrigerator, or in the refrigerator compartment if required.
FIG. 1 shows an example ice maker installed in the freezer compartment. The ice maker 100 has an ice storage unit 102 for storing ice as shown in FIG. 1, and the ice stored in the ice storage unit 102 may be dispensed to the outside through an ice dispenser unit in accordance with an external ice dispensing signal. In this case, if more ice than a prescribed amount of ice is dispensed to the outside, information is provided as feedback to enable the ice maker 100 to make ice again, and the ice may be introduced into the ice storage unit 102 again.
As shown in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, in the ice maker 100, a refrigerant pipe 202 is attached at the bottom portion of the ice making tray 200 in which the ice is usually made. When making ice, the refrigerant is allowed to flow through the refrigerant pipe 202 and thus water contained in the ice making tray 200 is turned into ice by cold air generated by the refrigerant.
However, the conventional ice maker is fabricated through a process in which the refrigerant pipe and the ice making tray are separately injection molded and the refrigerant pipe is then attached at the bottom portion of the ice making tray, which reduces the efficiency of the transfer of cold air from the refrigerant pipe to the ice making tray.